The Jesus And Mary Chain’s William Reid says Eddie Van Halen “ruined rock guitar” and was one of “the worst guitar players in the world”

NME ^ | Tom Skinner

[nickcarraway]

"So many people copied him"

two side by side pictures of Eddie Van Halen (left) and The Jesus And Mary Chain's William Reid (right) performing live on stage Eddie Van Halen and The Jesus And Mary Chain's William Reid perform live. CREDITS: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic/Getty (L), Dave Simpson/WireImage/Getty (R) The Jesus And Mary Chain guitarist William Reid has said Eddie Van Halen “ruined rock guitar”, labelling him one of “the worst guitar players in the world”.

Reid criticised the late musician during a new interview with Stereogum, where his brother and bandmate Jim Reid was asked about a new generation of bands being influenced by shoegaze music.

“Shoegaze, I’ve got a problem with that just because it doesn’t actually exist. ‘Cause it was some clown at the NME made that up,” he responded.

Jim went on to discuss his own guitar style and his instinctive approach to making music. “Not having a lot of equipment actually forces you to be more inventive,” he explained.

“I can play guitar, but only just. It’s kinda deliberate. I play guitar to the level that I need to play guitar. And sometimes knowing too much about making music gets in the way, and it ends up back to Eddie Van Halen again, do you know what I mean?”

William then weighed in: “I think guitar players should never learn scales. I think the worst guitar players in the world, like Eddie Van Halen… I can’t stand Eddie Van Halen’s guitar playing.”

Elaborating on his dislike of Van Halen, he continued: “I think he ruined rock guitar all through the ’80s and ’90s ’cause so many people copied him.

“And I just couldn’t get any of that playing as fast as you fucking can and cramming as many notes in one second as you could. And I listen to Peter Hook‘s bass riffs, and I think that’s a thousand times better than anything Eddie Van Halen could ever conjure up.”

This August will see The Jesus And Mary Chain support Hollywood Vampires on their UK headline tour. Shows are scheduled for The O2 in London, the OVO Hydro in Glasgow, the AO Arena in Manchester, and the Utilita Arena in Birmingham. Find any remaining tickets here.

The Scottish group’s eighth and latest studio album, ‘Glasgow Eyes’, was released in March 2024.

Speaking to NME ahead of releasing the record, Jim Reid discussed whether he saw the influence of the Mary Chain in current music.

“I like to hear other people say it really,” he told us. “It’s not like I sit there checking out new bands going, ‘They’ve been listening to us’. It’s nice when you get name-checked, it’s always nice, it always has been. That was the point of the Mary Chain at the beginning.”

Last year, Slayer’s Kerry King listed Eddie Van Halen among who he believed to be the best guitarists. Following the latter’s death in 2020, aged 65, NME hailed the musician as “a fire-fingered colossus”.

“Famed for popularising the ‘tapping’ technique that revolutionised heavy metal and credited with placing the genre at the heart of the American mainstream thanks to the 80 million album sales of his band Van Halen, he was considered amongst the greatest guitarists in history, the man who turned the fine art of the guitar solo into a firework display,” the obituary continued.

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TOPICS: Music/Entertainment
KEYWORDS: guitar; music; ohnoanyway; vanhalen

[philled]

No- they were second on the bill. Motörhead was the headliner and Die Kreuzen was the opener. Wasn’t familiar with them and only saw about ten minutes. Ironically, saw more of the than JAMC. I just wanted Motörhead to play Ace of Spades so I could go home.

[nickcarraway]

That is a weird lineup. I don’t see many overlapping fans among the three.

[wardaddy]

lol

I like both

[philled]

The Jesus and Mary Chain name was riffed on and gave me quite a chuckle when an NE England super-group was announced. The Joseph and Mary Chain.

This was a Christmas carol charity collaboration of members of the Futureheads and Field Music. They also reunited to do some anniversary shows this past December with proceeds going to homeless and food pantries.

[Paul R.]

I kinda approved, until they started trying to sing.

[Tired of Taxes]

The vocals in that genre tend to be quieter, blending with the music like another instrument. But, it’s not everyone’s taste. :-)

[Mr. Blond]

He was more of a stylist than a player.

[Sirius Lee]

They guy says he can barely play but contends the other guy ruined guitar playing. gimme a break!

Because, gosh, there's nothing worse than musicians who show proficiency their musical instruments. Music should be out of tune, arrhythmic, and full of slowly played wrong notes.

[ByteMercenary]

EVH may not be the best as that is subjective but he is far from the worst.

[GranTorino]

I watched a bit.
They were all gazing at their shoes.
Or maybe fingers?

[neverevergiveup]

Personally, I like to think of becoming technically proficient on an instrument as a way to expand your musical palette - allowing you to sometimes ‘paint’ sound with more ‘colors’ - when this adds to the music being played.

That said, just like a good painter doesn’t use every color in every painting, you don’t have to use all of your technical skills in every song. To do so can detract from the music.

[caver]

The best thing out of this article is the mention of the Hollywood Vampires.

[bk1000]

There have been three who forever changed the way we play guitar. Chuck Berry, Jimi Hendrix, and Eddie Van Halen. The one you grew up listening to is the one you play like. We worked hard on Johnny B Goode, and today’s kids are effortlessly tapping Eruption as a right of passage.

Reid wouldn’t amount to the makings of a pimple on the late, great EVHs butt (To paraphrase Willie Brown)

[subterfuge]

Brian Patrick Caroll:aka Buckethead for me.

I remember in ‘80 or ‘81 a buddy had a bootleg 8 track tape of Van Halen’s first album and my group of musician friends were blown away at the time. Over the years they got so much radio play I got tired of their sound to a degree. And David Lee Roth? His schtick got old fast. And no one would know who you were talking about if you left out the “Lee” part of his name. David Roth? Who’s that? Lol.

[Scrambler Bob]

Some people have two (or even more)..

[MikelTackNailer]

For the record here I said this band played like they were on barbiturates, missing the most obvious joke. What I should have wrote was:

The Jesus and Mary Chain sound a lot like Ramones...who really got sedated.

The Ramones themselves were super-minimalists. If the car ran great without extra parts those parts were chucked. ALL the original members died younger than they should: three from cancers, one by heroin overdose. Despite earning but one gold record in thirty years they're cited as being the second-most influential band of all time after the Beatles.

Hey, ho...Let's go!

[Tired of Taxes]

Supposedly, these bands look more at the foot pedals they use for sound. But, they seem to look down even when they don't use the pedals. I think you're right that they look more at their instruments. For example, here's another band. They are younger, and they look more at their instruments than the crowd.

[Secret Agent Man]

Arguably, maybe. I would imagine it depends how much one enjoys their syle/genre.